Bangkok PostNov. 12, 1998 - Scientist wants Thai fleet upgraded

The Bangkok Post Thursday Nov. 12 1998

Pongpol wants Thai fleet to be upgraded
Scientist calls for knowledge protection

Uamdao Noikorn

Deep-sea fishing will be introduced as part of an attempt to restore the country's fishstock, Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn said yesterday.

Cooperatives will be set up in coastal provinces to buy sophisticated boats and equipment needed for deep-sea fishing, especially for tuna which is one of the world's biggest income earners, according to the minister.

"Thailand spends 30,000 million baht yearly on fresh tuna from Taiwanese and Japanese fishermen to make canned tuna for export. But if our boats are big enough, we can save that much money."

The minister is positive the scheme would spare Thai fishermen from being arrested in territorial waters of neighbouring countries. "Reports of such arrests are rising every year because our own fishstocks are severely depleted."

To prevent overfishing of tuna in waters also shared by fishermen from France, Spain, Taiwan and Japan, Mr Pongpol said there would be a quota system, adding that Asean was considering a new code of conduct for this issue and other fishery matters.

A pilot project took off in Phuket last month. The government granted the Phuket Fishermen Cooperatives a soft loan with a four percent interest to buy a Japanese-made fishing boat worth 200 million baht. The boat is bigger than the 990-ton Chulabhorn, a research boat of the Chulabhorn Research Institute.

But while waiting for the fish to return, what can small-scale fishermen do now that it is already hard for them to make enough just to survive? Mr Pongpol believes the problem should ease soon after there is a boom in deep-sea fishing.

Meanwhile, the ministry will have to find ways to settle a longstanding dispute between local fishermen and commercial trawlers before the next big fishing season arrives.

Mr Pongpol admitted lax law enforcement had caused small-scale fishermen to suffer from problems caused by big fishing businesses such as overfishing and destruction of the seabed, sea plants and coral reefs.

"That's why I want to bring in the Fisheries Department to help the Forestry Department oversee marine national parks. Forestry officers have studied wildlife only ... so they don't understand the fish's nature much."

Mr Pongpol said the Fisheries Department could be helpful in breeding back some species, particularly those nearing extinction because of their economic value.

He said it would also help expand the Forestry Department's conservation capacity with its patrol boats, and that would help speed up the recovery rate.

He also expressed concern over a rapid spread of garbage generated by tourists from beach areas to the seabed.

"Tourists on boats are a big problem. They just throw things into the sea thinking the sea is too big to get affected ... and because everyone is thinking that way, hundreds of pieces of garbage are being washed ashore," he said.

The minister added that industrial and household waste water was also one of the sea's biggest enemies.

Phisit na Phatthalung, secretary-general of Wildlife Fund Thailand, agreed that the problems of garbage and overfishing by commercial trawlers needed urgent tackling. But he doubted the Fisheries Department's ability to save Thai seas.

Much of its work had already resulted in unresolved disasters, he said, especially from an ecological standpoint. This was because the department's work was more economy-based than biodiversity-based, he added.

He cited the spread of Russian catfish, sucker fish and cherry snails countrywide because foreign species had been introduced into the local food chain without any impact study.